The sports live streaming platform doubled its subscription price in the DACH region earlier this year Executives at DAZN are confident that the firm will reach profitability in the "DACH" region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) inside the next 12 to 18 months, according to regional CEO Alice Mascia. The OTT platform, owned by British billionnaire Sir Len Blavatnik, has yet to turn a profit in the German speaking world, where its latest figures reflected a loss of $1.3 billion in 2020. Nonetheless, Mascia, who joined the company in May, is very confident about turning a profit in the not too distant future. Speaking to a German newspaper, Mascia said: “It’s no secret that we’re not profitable yet. But we are making significant improvements, the curve is going up steeply. DAZN wants to be profitable in 12 to 18 months from today. That’s our goal, maybe it’ll work out a little earlier. I am optimistic.” The reasons for that optimism seem to be twofold - a large uptick in revenue brought about by the doubling of its subscription cost in the region, and a significant bolstering of the service's sports rights portfolio. Despite raising its monthly subscription price in the DACH region to €29.99 and it's annual subscription price to €274.99, up from €149.99 previously, Mascia has stated that the "vast majority" of subscribers have stayed with the platform. Retaining so many customers, despite this February price hike, has significantly boosted revenues. At the same time, DAZN has acquired several high profile sports rights contracts. The biggest of these wins was undoubtedly the €4.4bn deal it signed to bring German Bundesliga action to its platform, in co-operation with Sky Sports. Elsewhere in football, the streamer has added the English FA Cup and Carabao Cup, the Spanish La Liga and Copa Del Rey, and the rights to most UEFA Champions League matches, making DAZN the place to be for football in Germany right now. The company's rights haul extends beyond football and into other sports, with DAZN also recently signing a deal to secure the NFL for its platform in a deal which runs until 2026. This combination of a price hike and a rapid expansion into capturing more sports rights makes executives at DAZN optimistic about turning a profit in the German speaking world sooner rather than later. DACH Chief Executive Mascia also sees the potential to replicate this success in other markets: “It’s not just about the turnaround at DAZN in Germany, but about the entire group. Even if Germany is one of the most important markets for us: if you can make it in Germany, you can make it anywhere. Our goal is to create the next level of growth and make the business profitable.” As of yet, DAZN doesn't seem to be experiencing the same issues it has had on the Italian market, where it owns the exclusive domestic streaming rights to the nation's top football division Serie A. Technical issues and outages have caused a furore in Italy about DAZN and its place in the broadcasting space. Fortunately for the streamer, these problems don't seem to have come up in the German speaking world. It is as yet unclear whether DAZN will go on to completely dominate the sports broadcasting market in the DACH region, but the signs are good and the executives are confident. Stick around for more football news and don't forget to check out our football live streams - we offer coverage of some of the biggest leagues in the world, including La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A - via high quality, totally legal live streams.
